Hippie Masala

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04/30/2013 48% I thought it might be insightful and spritual. I discovered this wasn't so, at least not for me. I'm sure some, will get something out of it. See more 03/06/2013 Quite interesting documentary about hippies in the 60s, who decided to stay in parts of India. Most of this hippies are from part of Europe, the one reason they left the Western structure was because of the money&expectations. Makes you think a lot about certain things of life and how many structure doesn't bring any happiness but the simplicity does. If one self enjoys smoking, it can also bring a sort of satisfaction. See more 03/05/2013 Loved this film! I lived 2.5 years abroad in India and this film showed how half a dozen ex-pats choose radically different lives there! See more 02/15/2013 As someone who lived in Asia, myself, for many years, I have long thought a documentary on expats who traveled to India and never returned would be a fascinating study. The filmmakers did an excellent job in creating a minimally subjective and consistently engaging film. By the end, I saw how differently half a dozen Westerners had adapted to their second home - All of them choosing life paths I find deeply intriguing, but none I am envious of. See more 07/06/2012 HIPPIE MASALA: Forever in India is a documentary film by Ulrich Grossenbacher and Damaris Lüthi about six people who went on the overland trail to India in the late 1960s/early 1970s and decided to stay. Cesare from Italy became a sadhu (a religious beggar) and spends his days chanting in the company of his Indian peers. Meera from Belgium did the same, though as a woman her experience has been quite different. Hanspeter from Switzerland settled down the Himalayas, maintaining a dairy farm and going hunting and fishing. Robert from Holland got into trouble as a youth running away from home and selling drugs, but once he made it to India he established a career as a painter. Finally, Erica and Gillian are South African twins who now design clothes in Goa, though we mostly view these two lushes enjoying their drinks. The film has a number of interesting moments. Hanspeter and Robert have Indian wives, and the documentary discusses in some detail the cultural clashes of marrying a local. Some of the subjects speak of conflicts with their family that led them to leave Europe. However, what stops this from being a great documentary, at least in my opinion, is that it gives very little information on the years between the overland trail and wherever they are now, especially their changing attitudes to the counterculture of 40 years ago. Hanspeter, for example, complains about people seeking a good time in India and says "Couldn't you have a techno party in Switzerland instead of coming here?" but we don't get a deeper glimpse into how his feelings have changed. Furthermore, anyone looking for more trivia on the overland trail will be disappointed. The first couple of minutes of the film show some fascinating footage of e.g. the Pie Shop in Istanbul and roads in Afghanistan (I'd love to know where these came from), but none of the interview subjects go into detail on this great migration. Ultimately this documentary will appeal mostly to those interested in how foreigners adapt to Indian society and how they are accepted by the local people around them. The fact that these are hippies who came on the great overland trail four decades ago is pretty irrelevant -- the same sort of documentary could be made about people who arrived on a jet plane in the 1980s or 1990s. See more 10/28/2011 lame doc about lame people See more Read all reviews

Hippie Masala

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